The Montreal Canadiens have played plenty of important games over the last two months.
The pressure to perform will hit a new level Wednesday night.
The Canadiens host the Carolina Hurricanes with a chance to clinch a playoff spot on the line for a fourth consecutive game. The game will be available on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ with puck drop at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT.
Montreal needs at least one point to secure the second wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.
“I don’t miss playing hockey,” said head coach Martin St. Louis, a former Hall-of-Fame player. “But games like today make me miss the game.”
Canadiens push for playoff spot on SportsnetThe Montreal Canadiens need one point in their final game of the season to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Watch the Canadiens face the Carolina Hurricanes on Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT.
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The high stakes even impacted the federal election campaign.
The French-language debate will take place two hours earlier than originally planned Wednesday to minimize a conflict.
“It’s pretty crazy,” said defenceman Kaiden Guhle. “Feel like that’s on par for the province. When the Habs are in a big game, it’s the whole province, a lot of the country kind of gets behind it.”
Montreal’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday — another clinching scenario — drew an average viewership of nearly 1.2 million on RDS, making it the French TV station’s most-watched regular-season contest since 2014.
“We’re all aware of the magnitude of the game,” said fellow blueliner Alexandre Carrier. “We know how passionate the fans are and how much they want the playoffs, just like us.
“It’s up to us to give them that opportunity.”
The Canadiens (39-31-11, 89 points) need at least one point to secure the second wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.
If they lose, their fate rests in the hands of the trailing Columbus Blue Jackets. Montreal would still qualify for the post-season if Columbus (39-33-9, 87 points) fails to win its home matchup Thursday against the New York Islanders in regulation.
The Canadiens, however, are treating Wednesday’s contest as a must-win because the Blue Jackets are on a roll with victories in five straight games.
“Do or die situation, got the chance to clinch in Game 82,” Guhle said. “It’ll be fun. It’s why you play the game.
“You’re going to remember this game for the rest of your life.”
A week ago, Montreal was on a six-game winning streak, comfortably in the driver’s seat with an eight-point advantage over the Blue Jackets with one more game played.
Since then, the Canadiens have missed opportunities to punch a ticket to the playoffs three times, losing in regulation to the Ottawa Senators before falling in overtime to the Toronto Maple Leafs and dropping their latest matchup against Chicago, the second-worst team this season.
“We’ve had a lot of opportunities to clinch, and that maybe held us back a bit and made us a little bit foggy in certain areas of the game,” Guhle said. “Get back to the basics, go play hockey, play as a team, do what we’ve been doing all year.
“I don’t have much doubt in my mind that we’re going to have our A game tonight.”
The Canadiens are taking on a Hurricanes “B” squad with regulars Sebastian Aho, Jaccob Slavin, Jalen Chatfield, Jordan Staal, Seth Jarvis, Jordan Martinook and Jackson Blake all resting for playoff-bound Carolina.
Meanwhile, Montreal is making a subtle change to its lineup as winger Emil Heineman enters the fray to replace Oliver Kapanen on the fourth line. Top prospect Ivan Demidov will feature on a line with Alex Newhook and Patrik Laine.
The Canadiens’ slide coincides with the fan base’s craze over Demidov, a 19-year-old Russian who had a goal and an assist in a thrilling NHL debut against the Blackhawks.
Guhle, who took a costly interference penalty after Demidov helped the Canadiens take a 2-0 first-period lead against Chicago, acknowledged that the Russian’s recent arrival led to some overexcitement.
“It’s not a distraction, just kind of excitement,” he said. “You feel the buzz around the city, if there wasn’t buzz already with us having a chance to clinch, there was more now with him coming in.
“I got a little bit too excited at times in that game. And even today, I wanted to go on the ice because I was so jacked up this morning.”
St. Louis, a 2004 Stanley Cup champion with loads of big-game experience, had one final message for his team.
“You don’t get do-overs, so you can’t leave this game with any regrets,” he said. “It’s not about being perfect, it’s about laying it on the line, doing the things that the game needs you to do, and I don’t know what that’s going to be at what time.
“You leave it out there.”
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